MADD says only 2 NFL teams use its program for players

Dec. 8, 2012
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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has cracked down on players involved in drunken-driving incidents while also expanding educational programs for players. But not every team has taken advantage of a program offered by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). / Phelan M. Ebenhack, AP

by Robert Klemko, USA TODAY Sports

by Robert Klemko, USA TODAY Sports

If NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was "fed up with DUIs" in 2008 â?? as a league staffer told Mothers Against Drunk Driving when the league reached out to the organization that year â?? NFL teams haven't exactly embraced MADD in their efforts to fix the problem.

MADD CEO Debbie Weir says the 3-year-old partnership between the NFL and one of the nation's leading organizations in the fight against drunk driving consists primarily of game-day efforts to educate fans.

Of 32 NFL teams, only two â?? the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers â?? use MADD's services to educate players on the dangers of drunk driving, Weir says.

Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Josh Brent was arrested and charged Saturday with intoxication manslaughter after a one-car accident that killed his teammate, Jerry Brown, shining a new spotlight on the league's ongoing struggle with players and impaired driving.

Weir says teams can do more with MADD to educate players, in addition to the league's substance abuse programs already in place.

"I would say that the NFL and the league office are very supportive of MADD providing this type of presentation to all of the teams," she says. "They sent out a memo at the beginning of the season to each team saying, 'This is our partnership with MADD, this is what MADD can do for you.' I'm not sure why more clubs haven't engaged with us on that level. You'd have to ask them. The NFL is hoping this can grow next year."

For the Steelers and Buccaneers, MADD provides "panels of speakers to talk about the tragedy that drunk driving creates," Weir says. "We're hoping that next year teams will do more to reach out to us to do more engagement with their staff, coaches and players so MADD can educate them on the choices they have."

In an e-mail to USA TODAY Sports on Saturday evening, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello says the prospect of such a program becoming mandatory to all teams is under consideration.

Said Aiello, " We will review it with our clubs."

As a supplemental draft pick of the Cowboys in 2010, Brent missed the rookie symposium held for April draftees. Had he attended the symposium in California, he would have heard the story of Nina Walker, who joined MADD in 2002 after the death of her 22-year-old daughter, Ginger, in a drunken-driving crash.

"She presented her story," Weir says. "And with MADD, we provide a lot of opportunities for victims to tell their stories that hopefully make a difference and would help people consider better choices."

Aiello says though Brent missed the symposium, he would have been present for "extensive substance abuse and driver's education throughout the year as part of our ongoing mandatory life skills programs beginning in a player's rookie season."